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Wednesday, February 22, 2017

When a 'Meet Cute' Becomes 'Meet Am I being stalked'?

Writing the random meeting of two characters that you know are going
to have romantic or friendship relationship is one of my favourite parts of being a writer. Whether it’s the love interest of the MC, or their future best friend,
the Meet Cute is so much fun to create!

However, recently I realised how important it is to step
outside of the fact that you, as the author, know these two characters are
destined to spend a lot of time together. Instead, get into their heads during
that first meeting. For example, when revising the love interests’ first
meeting in my WIP a few months ago, I revelled in their witty banter and loved
making both characters’ personalities shine through so that they could see they
were meant to be. It wasn’t until I reread it, getting into my characters’
heads at that particular point in the story (rather than my own head which
knows them inside-out), that I realised…

THIS GUY WOULD BE REALLY ANNOYING – DOESN’T HE HAVE ANYTHING
ELSE GOING ON IN HIS LIFE? WHY IS HE SPENDING SO MUCH TIME ON A STRANGER?

My poor characters were simply trying too hard.
Realistically, when you meet someone for the first time, you aren’t that
invested. Yes, I believe in instant attraction, and you can want someone to
like you straight away, but ultimately, if you’re going about your daily
business and strike up an unexpected conversation, you aren’t going delve into
straight-up teasing/banter/surprising that person with your one-of-a-kind
personality. In fact, if someone starting taking the mick out of me within
seconds of first meeting, I’d probably think they were an idiot, and not in a ‘hate-to-love’
type of way, just a ‘leave me alone’ kind of way.

Of course, if you want your characters to find each other
annoying then it’s perfect! A person who is initially annoying to your MC can
grow into something else (and it’s SO much fun to watch that happening!). But
my point is if you’re trying to give your characters an instant spark, then
sometimes you have to forget that you already know they’re going to become
friends or lovers. Imagine the situation as though the interest were any Tom,
Dick or Harry and ask yourself, WHY is my MC continuing this interaction? WHY
is the friend/love interest continuing this conversation? Have they got a super
friendly personality and talk to anyone? Or are they singling your main character
out (if so, why? And is that a bit creepy? Are they just hanging around waiting to meet your MC?)

These are all questions that I ask myself when I write
character meetings. Of course, fiction isn’t an exact reflection of real life,
and so it’s OK to keep your characters talking when in reality your MC might
have walked out of that coffee shop checking their bag for stolen items. Simply
take a moment to get into your MC and romantic/friendship interests’ heads and
ask yourself why they’re still chatting. If you know that, then the Meet Cute
will stay cute!

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